Not far from Trostre retail park is a lovely wetlands that’s safe for little people to run around and explore. The actual wetlands is pretty huge so there’s probably a lot more there than what’s on this blog, but some of the attractions were a good 20 minute walk, which felt a little far with the ever changing Welsh weather we had today!
How much does it cost to get in?
We paid £11.25 an adult and £7.25 for children (Under 4s are free) and this included the gift aid option. You can go in a little cheaper if you opt not to offer gift aid. Parking is free as are some of the activities offered there. You can do a canoe safari there, which is £12 a canoe and as this is quite a trek to get to, you can also pay £2.50 per person (or £5 a family) to get driven there in a buggy. We didn’t do this because, well, I didn’t fancy trying to restrain Ralffi on a canoe!!
What can you do there?
As the name suggests, the animals that you’ll see here, mainly, are birds that live in water. There are lots of ponds around the wetlands with a variety of birds to look at. When we came here years ago we bought some duck food to feed the ducks - they didn’t offer us that this time, so not sure if that’s still a thing!
All the ponds have bilingual (diolch) signage and there’s plenty of facts to read whilst walking around. A large part of the wetlands is paved and therefore suitable for a pushchair or a wheelchair. Some paths are more gravel, which would make a wheelchair push a bit more difficult I think, but I managed fine with the buggy. Only guide dogs allowed here (guessing as there’s lots of birds roaming freely around the place!)
There are LOTS of viewing points dotted around the wetlands for those who are eager to sit it out and wait for birds to fly past. They’re also great places to shelter when the rain comes!! (On that note, if you purchase a ticket online beforehand and then have 2 hours of continuous rain the day you go, you can get a ticket to go another day for free!)
Whilst we’re on the subject of wet weather, this wouldn’t be my choice of place to go in the rain at all. You want a dry day to get the best out of the wetlands - however, there is a small soft play area for under 5s and somewhere to colour in if you need some shelter when you’re there.
There are two playgrounds at the wetlands. The flamingo playground, close to the visitor’s centre, is great. The kids spent ages here today! There’s another one hidden more inland, which is great for breaking the walk around the wetlands up a little.
At weekends (and I’m assuming the holidays as well) there are activities lead by the staff at the wetlands for the children, such as a Mini Beast Hunt and Pond Dipping. These were free and the children enjoyed searching for the bugs and then learning about them as they collected them and placed them under the microscope!
Water vole city is a great little area of the wetlands and I think, had we had better weather, we’d have stayed here a lot longer. Tubes, tunnels and slides worked into the land are a great spot for some hide and seek!
The Wiggly Wood was another area that entertained our lot for a good amount of time with all the branches needed in order to build some dens in the woods.
We finished off the day with some ice cream in the cafe (which also serves hot drinks, cakes and food)
Is it worth a visit and will I go again?
For sure. I’m sure if this was on my doorstep, I’d get a season pass. We’ve actually been here before, years ago, although Coops can’t remember going. But it’s quite a trek for us and possibly not somewhere Coops would beg to go back to in truth. However, we had a great day, helped by the fact that Coops had lots of friends to run around with, and Ralffi definitely enjoyed running around and exploring too!
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